Posts Tagged with childrens books

Great picture books exploring: friendship, sharing and worries.

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Fair shares  by Pippa Goodhart and Anna Doherty

A heartwarming, fun and colourful picture book, with an important message about sharing. A bear and a hare both want a pear, but neither can reach them. In their attempt to do so they learn that ‘being fair’ doesn’t always mean ‘getting the same’.  I can see this being really popular with children aged 2 to 6 years and their parents/carers. The later whom will really appreciated the way it gives the reader more than one way to look at sharing. Great rhyming language, told in a way that young children will really be able to relate too, and an great twist at the end.

  The pictures are vibrant and colourful, making great use of orange, green and yellow. Ann Doherty the illustrator explains at the back page that that the art work was produced digitally, but she scanned textures she had made in pen and ink for the animals fur. The contrast between the two works brilliantly. There are also the most delightful end-pages.

You can find out more about publisher Tiny Owl the publisher and buy the book here. 

Thank you to Tiny Owl for a free copy of this book to review.

Oscar Seeks a Friend by Pawel Pawlak

Translated from Polish by Antonia Lloyd-Jones

A truly wonderful story about a friendship between a little girl and a Skeleton. The story has a delightful opening where a Skeleton has lost a tooth and is worried how he looks, then he finds a girl burying  a tooth.  It gently introduces the characters concerns and worries. As the story progresses they share experiences and show each other their worlds. The story is brought to life and transformed into a unique book by the colourful collage like pictures on every page. There are plenty of possibilities for children to be inspired to do their own art from these pictures. This book will help to open up conversations about friendship and encourage children to have the courage to reach out and  ask someone for something or to do something.  I am so glad that Lantana Publishing chose to translate this book from Polish so that English children can enjoy it too.

The book is published on 10th October. You can find out more about Lantana Publishing and buy the book here.

Also check out: Library Girl and Book Boys podcast interview with translator Antonia Lloyd-Jones.  In which Antonia tells us  that author and graphic artist Pawel Pawlak starts his ideas with the character and then the scene and the pictures usually come first  before the words. And Antonia talks about some of the challenges she faced translating the puns and hidden assumptions about Skeletons from Polish, and coming up with a new name for the character that would work in English.

Thank you to Lantana Publishing for a free copy this book to review, 

 

Thank Goodness for Bob by Mathew Morgan and Gabriel Aborozo

A story about a boy called Max, who has lot’s of worries and his dog Bob. In a way  children will really relate to the story explores some of the things kids worry about. It makes imaginative use of bubbles to put worries in. One day Max discovered Bob the dog is great at listening. And that by talking about his worries to someone that listens they do not feel as big anymore.  My favourites pages of the story is where the boy and the dog pop the worry bubbles together.  A great book to open up conversations about feelings and worries, but also great for a child to read alone, helping them to realise they are not the only one with worries and that sharing them with someone can help.

 

All the books are available from me at Readers that Care. And Oscar Seeks a friend is one of the hardback books available to my £40 a term members in my 2 for £10 termly offer.

 

Grobblechops by Elizabeth Lair and Jenny Lucander

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Is a retelling of a poem by Rumi, a renowned poet and philosopher who lived in ancient Persia. This is one of several of his poems which have been translated by the publishers Tiny Owl, and brought to life in engaging and thoughtful picture books for a new generation.  I love all the retellings, but this is my favourite so far.

On one level it is a story of a boy, called Amir, who is scared to go to bed, because of the monsters underneath it.  The boy’s dad gently encourages him to make friends with the monster, so he won’t be scared anymore. But, there is so much more to this story, there are other important messages that are being conveyed.

In the story the boy and his dad discover that fighting monsters doesn’t get them anywhere.  The dad encourages the monster to go off and play and says:

“when the grown-ups see how nicely you and little monster are playing, we’ll stop arguing and sit down for a cup of coffee to talk things over.”

The original pictures by Jenny Lucander beautifully capture the dialogue between the boy and his dad. They include many scenes children recognise. Whilst at the same time there is a distinctive ‘other world’ fell to the illustrations.  In her artwork Jenny has managed to create a unique monster which is both lovable and scary.

 

A truly special and unique bet-time story, which will help children deal with their night-time fears. It might also help children deal with their anxiety over making new friends.  It also has universal messages about acknowledging and making friends with your fears, and that fighting what you are afraid off is rarely the answer. This will resonate with children of all ages and adults.

Then you to Tiny Owl for sending me a review copy of this book.

You can find out more about the book and download a free poster on Tiny Owls website

The book is also available to buy from me at Readers that Care

Dare by Lorna Gutierrez and Polly Noakes

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Published by Tiny Owl Books.

 

Dare is one of those children’s stories, that even as an adult makes me smile every time I pick it up. Younger children will love the simple fun and inspiring poem by Loran Gutierrez, and noticing all the things the children from diverse backgrounds do. Older readers and adults will also pick up on the many positive messages about: being yourself, reaching out to others, standing up for what you believe in and daring to be you.

The illustrator Polly Noakes brings the story to life with her unique illustration style. I am already a big fan of the illustrator, but am more familiar with here drawing animals rather than people. Polly draws a wonderful group of diverse children that appear in the story doing all sorts of things, some of which challenge gender stereotypes. Such as a girl aspiring to be an astronaut and, a boy dressing up in a skirt. The girl anspiring to be an astronaut especially resonated with my daughter, as when she was younger she got very frustrated when all she saw in books about space (including some non-fiction books) were ones with boys or men

The core messages of this story will appeal to children and adults of all ages. It is a fun story to read aloud which also has important messages about: taking part, reaching out and, being yourself. It also invite’s the reader to appreciate quite times, and encourages children to be comfortable with their own company. Both of which are really important for fostering well-being, in a world often full of business and noise.

A fun, playful, heart-warming and empowering story that, I would highly recommend for every school and home library.

Here is the second half of the poem:

“Dare to be your own best friend
Dare to enjoy a silent night
Dare to be a shining light,
Dare to be who you truly are
A light in the dark
Be you a star”

Thank you to the publishers Tiny Owl for a review copy of this book. On their website they have a free International Womens’ Day poster to download. 

You can buy from me at Readers that Care or your local bookshop.

 

Early years: laying the foundations for reading for pleasure: one boy’s story

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My son has been extremely lucky to have 3 and half years of excellent teaching from his teachers, and I could not have asked for more from any of them. Anyone observing his engagement with reading, now aged 8 years, who rightly come to the conclusion that not only can he read, that he is a child who want to read and when he finds the right book he clearly takes pleasure from doing so. Some people may also assume that he was always going to be a ‘reader’. However, I believe that there were a few significant things that happened in school and at home in his first two years of school, which laid the foundations which made it possible for him to become the reader he is today.

When my son was in reception, he very much liked routine, and this was something his reception teacher clearly understood. So when it came to talking about the transition to year 1. She made sure that my son’s new teacher had some similar routines to her.  What was interesting was the similarity in those routines, concerned the way books were used at the beginning and end of each day. What I only realised much later was that same routine’s that had enabled my son to feel comfortable with school, to connect to school and to build connections with other children had together with regular reading aloud at home been fundamental in laying the foundations for reading for pleasure.

When my son started school, he had a few favourite books, including a book on recycling (which was aimed at older kids). He was however often more interested in watching Number Jacks or telling us all about recycling or the planets in space than he was listening to a story. He could not hold a pencil, and when he started he had little knowledge of phonics. However, thanks to the support of his brilliant reception teacher and some of his new friends he was able to adapt to life in school. The teaching of phonics was very good and this combined with us signing him up at home for Reading Eggs, meant he made steady progress with his phonics. Before, long he said: ‘mummy it’s just like maths there is a code to crack’.

But, this isn’t a blog post about the teaching of reading skills or literacy in the early years. It’s about how a partnership of school and home, which consistently prioritised reading aloud and ‘informal’ regular spaces to share and enjoy books, won a boy round that wasn’t yet (when he started school) entirely convinced that stories were relevant to him.

Books relevant to children at the start of each day – time to explore and share

Both his reception and year 1 teacher started their school day in the same way.  With books next to the children where they sat. For reception this was books on the carpet. On my son’s first day his teacher made sure he had a book on recycling next to the place where he was to sit. I could have hugged her!  In year 1, his teacher had a book shelf from which children could select their books at the start of the day. One of my son’s favourite books was Miles Kelly’s 100 Facts About Planet Earth. He and a few other kids in his class spent weeks looking over that book. Several of the children in his year 1 and 2 class brought in their own books to share. This worked really well for my son as one of the older kids loved non-fiction and brought some of those to share.

Afternoon Read Aloud

Both teachers read a story aloud at the same time in the afternoon most days. Which meant my son knew for two consecutive years, that that time of day was story-time. About Easter of reception the topic was: things that grow. One of his favourite books at the time was: ‘What’s This? –  a seed’s story’, published by Barefoot Books. I gave a copy to his teacher who shared it in story-time.  We continued this into year 1. I was bit nervous about what he was going to make of a dinosaur topic, as he has never shown the slightest bit of interest in them. In the summer holidays after reception he had really enjoyed being read the Mr Men books (drawn to them initially as they were numbered on the side and all ordered in a case). I found a book called: ‘Mr Men Adventures with Dinosaurs’ and gave a copy to his year 1 teacher, so she could share it at story-time and he could look at it with his friends.

Reading Aloud at home, and sharing this with his sister

For two consecutive years (reception to end year 1) we read picture books aloud most nights to my son and his sister (who was two and half year’s older). This was as well as the book they read themselves. In reception two of my son’s favourite books to have read aloud were: ‘Wendel and the Robot’, by Chris Riddell, and ‘Boy who turned off the Sun’, by Paul Brown. When my son was in year 1, they started to develop books in common that they both loved. Both children have always been very particular about the books they like, so it was fascinating to see which books they both enjoyed. These included: ‘Errol the Squirrel’ by Hannah Shaw, and ‘The Day the Crayon’s Quit’.  I have blogged about some of them here. Had my daughter not had such a challenging year 3 (year my son was in reception) it is possible she would have stopped being interested in being read picture books earlier. But, sharing picture books together at home is something I think they both have hugely benefited from, and which I would highly recommend to any family.

There was of course so much more each of his teachers did, we did, and my son did to get him to where he is now with his reading.  But, with the benefit of hindsight I firmly believe that it was these relatively simple things, repeated consistently over several years, that convinced my son that reading could be meaningful to him. However, as I had already discovered a few years earlier with his sister, making good reading progress and enjoying being read stories aloud is not a guarantee that a child is going to successfully make the transition from school readers to independent reading. However, it does make it more likely! He did go through a wobbly phase with his reading from June of year 1 to November of year 2. And I wasn’t quite sure which way things were going to go. But, at that time I had not understood as clearly as I do now the importance of ‘reading communities ‘in developing readers, and that they can come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Had  I understand this I may not have been so nervous, about whether he would be able to negotiate the next stage in his reading journey. We were also lucky in the summer of 2017 to find in a relatively short space of time three book that really meant something to my son, that he read to us. Two of which were almost accidental finds, and one of which (the coding book) was given to my kids by his Yorkshire granddad.

 

 

Awe-inspiring non-fiction – discover and explore the wonders of our planet.

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For almost 15 years of my adult life I read  mainly non-fiction. Then three years ago I discovered middle grade fiction and have read mainly fiction since. However, a Reading Rocks ( Twitter: @_Reading_Rocks) chat for non-fiction November got me thinking about the way’s we engage with non-fiction texts and that non-fiction is often not talked about as much as fiction. Looking into a selection of recent non-fiction books I am discovered that many are expanding the boundaries of  ‘more traditional’ non-fiction, creating some truly awesome books that you will want to return to time and time again . For someone that also loves picture books, modern day fiction with its blurring of curious facts and information with awe-inspiring illustrations and photographs is a real treat. I kick-start my non-fiction discovery with 3 fabulous books that explore planet earth and some of the creatures we share it with.

Natural Wonders of the World – Molly Oldfield and Federi Bordoni

Get set to travel to some of the most awe-inspiring places on earth.

Molly Oldfield introduces her book:

“I love to travel and explore I wanted to create a book that is like a passport to the world, filled with pages that take you to the most incredible natural wonders on Earth. Get ready for adventures”

This is a coffee table style non-fiction book, with huge pictures, of animals, plants and trees and double page spreads featuring some of the most amazing landscapes in the world. It also has an annotated map, to show you where in the world you can find them and an index. Making this a really versatile book that will appeal to many sorts of readers.

There are facts about some intriguing creatures, including the Christmas Island crabs, Tenrecs of Madagascar, birds of paradise in Papua New Guinea. But, it is the landscapes this book takes you to that really excited me.  For each landscape featured in the book you get information about the physical features, how they look and some information about how they are formed. There are also some great size comparison so you can get an idea of the size of some of these natural wonders, such as the Crystals are:  ‘so big that people can walk along them!’ or a spring that is ‘deeper than a ten-storey building’. You also get snippets of stories about people discovering the landscapes and some examples of helping wildlife too. Here are two examples:

Molly Oldfield describes the moment when two brothers, who were working in a mine, discovered some giant crystals in Mexico:

“Imagine how the brother must have felt when hard at work, they suddenly broke through a wall into a magical space filled with enormous, ancient crystals!”  p21

Crabs on Christmas Island, in the South Pacific:

“The people of Christmas Island are careful during the migration. The crabs are ushered towards tunnels called crab grids that go underneath the roads so they don’t get squashed. A crab sized bridge has even been built on one road” p24

There is so much to explore in this book. To help you to begin to do that I have made a list of 6 things to find.
NaturalWonderminiQuiz.

Fanatical About Frogs – by Own Davey

I have to confess this is the first of Owen Davey’s fabulous non-fiction books, published by Flying Eye Books that I have seen. I will be definitely be looking up the others after seeing this! What I love about this particular book is that it chooses a creature that most children and adults know little about. Which means it will both introduce animal lovers to a new creature and potentially appeal to children that would not normally pick up a book about animals.  It takes a classic non-fiction topic of exploring the characteristics and behaviour of a particular animal, in this case frogs and toads and through a unique layout and truly amazing illustrations transforms it into something truly special. That you are going to want to dip into time and time again.

In what is mainly bite-sized information I learnt so much about frogs, with those eye-catching illustrations drawing you in to look closer every time. This includes: how they catch their prey, regulate their body temperatures, the different croaks and calls they make. There is lots of variety in the presentation of the information, from almost full-page pictures, labelled diagram of the features of a frog, and a page of the life cycle of a frog. With detailed, accurate and precise information, and truly amazing artwork, Owen Davey’s books set the gold standard for a new generation of non-fiction books. There is a contents page and index, making it easy to explore this great book.

 

We Build Our Homes – by Laura Knowles and Chris Madden

A little different to the other two non-fiction books. This is written more like narrative fiction, with a different bird, insect or animal on each two-page spread telling it’s storey of how it builds it’s nest or home. The soft coloured and textured illustrations give a warm feel to the book, and bring the animal homes to life, leaving you in awe about what creatures on our planet can create. It includes: some unique bird’s nests, each using different materials and techniques, a peep into the world of bees, ants, wasps and spiders and animals such as: Gopher tortoises, moles, polar bears and beavers. A timely reminder that we are not the only creatures on Earth to create amazing things, and that we may even have things to learn from them.

At the end there is a simple map of the World and a mini fact files on the bird, insect and mammal builders, which adds another dimension to this book. The book gives three different ways to explore the way creatures build their homes: first person narrative, detailed illustrations and the fact files. Giving different children the opportunity to engage with this intriguing topic in a way that suits them, and plenty of scope to explore different ways of presenting non-fiction information.

 

Thank you to Flying Eye Books for a review copy of Fanatical About Frogs, the other two books I bought my own copies.

 

 

Trees and weird creatures – some quotes for writing inspiration

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A teacher in the fabulous bookish twitter community I am part off, recently posted this question:

“We are using this picture as a writing stimulus. Y6 children thinking hard about the effect of the reader. Looking for extracts from books of strange, unfamiliar creatures (harmless or dangerous) and/or forest descriptions (again peaceful or scary)”

 

Trees and Suspense

All three extracts feature trees or a tree, and some great suspense writing . In Celine Kieran”s Wild trilogy, MUP is on here way back home from visiting her sick Aunt; as she drifts in and out of sleep in the car she sees through the window witches in the trees.  In Kathleen Fidler’s the Boy with a Bronze Axe, they are not sure what’s lurking in the water in a cave they’re exploring. later they discover it is a tree trunk!  Finally in Barbara Henderson’s Punch a young boy is running away from a fire and climbs up a pine tree, but then something starts to climb up after him.

“outside the night was streaming past, Mup had slumped against the door with her face tilted to the sky, and she was looking up through the branches of the roadside trees, the trees were falling away as the car sped by, and there were witches in the branches and they were following the car.
Mup wasn’t startled – half asleep as she was, with the taste of warm custard in her mouth – but she frowned up aT the witches with an inkling that something wasn’t right……….….Mup was filled with the knowledge that she was awake, and there were witches in the trees, following the car.
There were men witches and women witches, and they leapt from branch to branch, racing along at tremendous speed. They were nothing but shadows among shadows, so that Mup had to strain her eyes to see them……….Then one of the witches jumped the gap between the two trunks, her silhouette dark against the fine grey of the sky. She descended in a falling arc, her clothes blown back like ragged black wings. As her pale hands reached for the branches of the next tree, she looked down into……”
p10-11  The Wild Magic Trilogy: Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan
It was Brockan who first saw the strange thing in the water below the ledge. “Oh look! What’s that?” he cried in terror, clutching at Tenko. “What’s that dark thing, waving terrible arms? Is it the spirit of the cave come to snatch us?”
He turned to run and would have fallen into the water below if Tenko had not grabbed him. Tenko’s heart had leaped and thudded for a second, but he saw the object did not move any nearer to them. All at once he knew what is was.
“Stay here!” he said to the other two. “I am going to have a closer look.”
……………Tenko crouched down, crawling nearer and nearer to it as he would creep up on an enemy. One of its arms was outstretched towards him. Suddenly Tenko dealt it a blow with his axe. There was splintering sound but the arm did not move. Tenko stood up and gave a cry of joy.
“Come here! Come here!” He shouted. ” It is what I thought.” Kali and Brockan came slowly timidly, not quite sure of their safety.
“What is it Tenko?” Kali whispered, Even her low voice echoed mysteriously round the cave.
“It’s a tree!”  Tenko shouted triumphantly.
They drew closer staring.
P69 The Boy with the Bronze Axe, Kathleen Fidler.
A young boy called Phineas is running away from a his boss, after he accidentally started a fire. 
“ A sob rips through my lungs and my vision blurs, a mix of smoke and despair; until more flutterings and rustlings disturb me and the trunk sways alarmingly. I hold my breath. There is no mistaking it.
Someone is climbing my tree.
Someone heavy.
I cling to the trunk as tight as I can and I peer down, and my blood freezes.
Through the dense needle branches. I recognise the subtle stripes of a prisoners clothes.”
p12 Punch by Barbara Henderson

Some ginormous and rather unusual spiders:

In the Christmas holidays I read Dan Smith’s Below Zero. Which features some brilliant robotic spiders that get rather out of control, but to find out the reasons why they do you will have to read the book!  Then my son suggested I include the giant spider in Larklight.
“At the back of the room there were three large bays………Right now HAL and ROY were empty, but the bay with ED above it was home to something that was one of the most amazing things Zak had ever seen. But, also one of the scariest.
The Spider were slightly bigger than a two-seater Smart car, and was made of a flat oval casing, about a metre and a half deep that housed the robot’s ‘brain’. On top of that, the bulk of the body was a ribbed dome, like a bloated tick that had filled itself with too much blood. It had four legs, each joined in six places, giving it a look of a weird grey metal spider. Close to the front, it had four narrow arms designed to accept interchangeable attachments. For now the arms were tipped with pincers.”
P91   Below Zeor by Dan Smith
“Down in the hall, the monstrous spider squeezed it’s prickly ball of a body in through the door with a faint scraping sound. A cluster of black eyes glittered like wet grapes at the front end. Above them a shabby brown bowler hat was perched upon it’s spines. Beneath, hairy mouth-parts twitched and fidgeted. It tilted itself upwards, and saw me starring down at it.
“The names Webster ‘ it said, lifting it’s hat with one huge claw. I’m expected.”
P27-p28  Larklight by Philip Reeve and illustrated by David Wyatt
Some follow-on ideas:
Think about what sort of spider you would create. What size would it be? Is it a friendly spider or a monster?
Can you draw what Dan Smiths robot spider looked like? What features of your own might you add?
What other stories do you know that feature a spider or spiders?

 

Friendly, spoon collecting Alien’s

And finally but by no means least is my son’s favourite creature from Cakes in Space, written by Phillip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre. Astra IS in a spaceship, with her family, which is travelling from earth to the planet Nova Mundi in deep space. They were all put to sleep in little sleeping pods. But, astra wakes up whilst everyone else is sleeping. she has already dealt with some rather unsual cake monsters.
“ It was a monster alright, but a different sort of montster: a squat plump one in a grease-stained spacesuit like a grubby chimney pot, with a nest of eyes on stalks poking out of it’s helmet.“
“Ploogah stofie!” Shouted the creature, it’s voice loud and buzzy on her helmet radio. “Britxit Floop”.
“I am sorry said Astra. I don’t understand.”
Astra remembered her mum and dad telling her that there were not such things as aliens. But, then they’d probably thought there were no such things as a man-eating fairy cakes, either. She was going to have lots to tell them when the woke up.”
P105-p107 Cakes in Space by Philip Reeve and illustrated by Sarah McIntyre

 

Caged – a wordless picture book that makes you think

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I am a big fan of wordless picture books so was delighted to be given the opportunity to review Caged, written and illustrated by Duncan Annand and publishers Tiny Owl. Through simple but very effective drawings it explores issues of greed, freedom, our connection to nature, and the courage shown by individuals to help others. It is a book that would be great to share, either as a group or as individual’s that then feed back their responses. I also felt it might work particular well with children aged 9+years. Not having the right group of kids myself  I asked Shenaz Bagshaw to help. She shared the book with a couple of groups of year 5’s at St James CE Primary School in Northampton. The children loved the book. One of the main reasons was: “because it makes you think”. This is one of the clever things about this wordless picture book, it actively invites the reader to try and work out what is happening and to question.

The pictures are a wonderful combination of line drawings in black and white. These contrast with a single blue bird and the multi-coloured parrots. Some things the children said when Shenaz ‘read’ the first part of the story with them were:

  • “Why is the bird blue, and everything else just outlined?”
  • “The man’s clothes look like Willy Wonker”

From these two comments there are so many things you could explore and discuss further.

Along with spot on observations and descriptions of what they saw. There were some interesting questions raised by the kids about what they were seeing as the story unfolded:

  • “Are the men knocking down the trees to make paper from the wood?”
  • “The circle on the ground looks like a helipad – a helicopter is coming to collect the wood.”

What I love about these questions is how different ‘eyes’ can see different things in the same picture and also how as the story unfolded they were inspired to do try and work out both what was happening and why it was.

“At first they thought the men got rich from selling the wood, (they thought they must be rich because they were wearing posh clothes), but later they thought that they were clearing the trees to make space for the aviary and to destroy the colourful birds habit to make them easier to trap”. Shenaz Bagshaw

In the last stage of the story here are some of the comments the children made. I have omitted some comments as I don’t want to give away completely how the story ends!  After reading it they commented that “one person or bird can make a big difference.” 

  • “They have alcohol – they are celebrating capturing the birds.”
  • “The blue bird sits on the cage and it brakes  – he must be heavy!”
  •  “One bird saves maybe 50 birds……”

There is some great information and resources, about Caged, including a free downloadable freedom poster  on Tiny Owls website. Including some quotes from authors about why wordless books are so powerful:

“Wordless picture books give a starting point to create and invent a story, giving readers the confidence to embroider what they are saying. ” Elizabeth Laird 

 

 

 

 

Bird Migration: Remarkable Journeys, Narrative Non-fiction at it’s very best.

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This blog post reviews two books:

Moonbird – A Year on the Wind with the Great Survivor B95 – Philip Hoose

Farrar Straus Giroux books for young readers

The Peregrines Journey – A Story of Migration – Madeleine Dunphy and Kristen Kest

Published by Web of Life Children’s books

  

Moonbird is about a remarkable superbird who has flown the distance equivalent  to the moon and half-way back again in its life time.  When I first read this book 8 years ago I remember being in awe of the migration journeys this bird (and other birds) make each and every year. It is one of my favourite all time non-fiction books. I have always been curious about how birds can navigate their way to such precise locations. This book doesn’t answer these questions. But, it did give me a fascinating insight into the annual journey of a rufa red knot (known as B95), a robin-sized shorebird. It opened my eyes to the multiple challenges it faces on its migration, and in particular finding enough food to give it enough energy for long flights. I gained an appreciation of the importance of stepping stones, key places that birds stop on their migration route where they can feed and re-fuel to be able to successfully complete the next stage of their journey. And how vulnerable these places are to changes , which are threatening the very existence of the red knot.

Since I discovered Moonbird I have been looking for a picture book that would communicate to a younger audience the excitement of a birds migration journey. I found some quite good ones, but they did not follow or capture the magic of the journey in quite the same as Moonbird, until I discovered the Peregrines Journey: A Story of Migration, by Madeleine Dunphy and illustrated by Kristin Kest. What a gem of a book it is. It covers the Peregrine Falcons 8,000 Mile journey from Alaska (where it raises it chicks in Summer) to Argentina where it spends the winter. Kristen Kest beautifully captures with bold distinctive colours the different environments the Peregrine passes through. Madeleine’s Dunphy has the ability to make you feel like you are experiencing things from Peregrine’s perspective, with just the right detail to be informative and realistic. And the combination of author and illustrator create a story that flows beautifully, like the very best of narrative non-fiction should do.

Please note:

The Peregrine Falcon is a bird of prey so it eats other animals, including birds, and the red knot (but not in this story). How might you might ask can I possibly love both stories! Well the Moonbird won me over to rooting for and loving the very small red knot bird. But, I have always been fascinated and in awe of the birds of prey.  In the story there are a couple of time’s that the Peregrine eats other birds, such as a Dove and a Pigeon, though you don’t see the eating part just the intent. Which may upset some younger children who do not yet understand that every animal or bird eats something to survive.

More about ‘Moonbird’:

The core of the book focuses on the journey the bird B95 makes in one year. With a combination of prose written as you were actually were the bird, backed up with detailed information of the scientists involved, with pictures, maps and information boxes, this is the ultimate in non-fiction for young adults and adults. It also includes detail about how the scientists learnt about the red knot, tagged and tracked them and by doing this discovered just how far this remarkable survivor B95 or ‘Moonbird’ had travelled. It concludes with a final chapter on what people are doing to save the red knot and an Appendix with ways you can help.  I would highly recommend this for anyone aged 12 years and above, including adults.

The start of an epic journey:

“Meet B95, One of the world’s premier athletes. Weighing a mere four ounces, he’s flown more than 325,000 miles in his life – the distance to the moon and nearly halfway back again. He flies at mountaintop height along ancient routes that lead him to his breading grounds and back”.

The reader is taken on the birds amazing journey. From Tierra del Fuego (where he spends October to February) an archipelago (group of islands) off the coast of South America to Mingan Archipelago in Quebec, Canada. After capturing your attention with what it might feel like to be a small migratory shorebird about to embark on a long journey, and the need for it to stuff itself with food, such as worms, muscles, and tiny crustaceans to store reserves and propel its flight on it’s long journey.

  

“The only way for us to know for sure whether B95 has made it safely from Delaware Bay to the Arctic Circle this year is for someone to spot him after his breeding time ends and he and other red knots stream back south to a stopover site.” P73

More about the Peregrine’s Journey:

In a relatively small number of words and beautiful whole page pictures you get a unique insight into the awe-inspiring journey this bird of prey makes each year. You are taken through the birds experiences of flying, feeding, drinking, resting and watching as well as some of it’s stopping of places. I would recommend this for children aged 6 years to adult. But, for younger children do remember this is a bird of prey so it eats other birds and animals.

“She also has very good eyesight…. To her the mountains and rivers are like maps and street signs. These landmarks help her know where she is.” P7

“Today, she bathes in a desert pool in New Mexico. She splashes around dipping her head in and out of the water until every feather is wet. One by one she carefully preens each feather with her beak.” P14

 

 

There’s Room for Everyone – Anahita Teymorian

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From the front page it is almost as if this book is reaching out to hug you. In uncertain times this is exactly what this picture book does. It provides reassurance and hope. It is the first title in the publisher Tiny Owls ‘Hope in a Scary World’ series. Which aims to build up a collection of books which help children (and adults) who may feel frightened or worried about world events. It is written and illustrated by award winning Iranian author Anahita Teymorian.

On one level this is a simple tale about a boy who grows up with the acceptance he needs, who then notices as an adult that everyone around him is fighting for space big and small, and then reflects with some very sound advice that through kindness and acceptance we can make room for everyone.

It is supported by the most wonderful illustrations, which have been drawn by the author. For anyone who has followed me on twitter (@melissacreate15) you know how much I love children’s picture books, despite this I can honestly say I have never seen illustrations quite like this before. Each page is backed by a warm comforting colour palette, and the choice to draw people with over extended arms is really effective. As a couple of my bookish twitter friends have also said this is the kind of book you keep being drawn back to.

On another level there are multiple layers and overlapping messages.  Each reader may interpret things differently.  This book is suitable for younger children aged 5+ years, but it’s real power as a book that helps you make sense of the world and find hope may lie with older children, teenagers and adults.

It ‘s the possibility of multiple messages from this story that has made it challenging to write about this heartwarming, thoughtful and hopeful book. Below are some of my reflections on what this story means to me.

My personal RESPONSE this story

Reflecting on this story I found the piece at the back of the book in which the author explains where her ideas came from was useful. It was a response to the fighting in the world that is always on the TV and a desire to show that we can accept and make room for each other and show kindness – a desire to give a positive message as an antidote to all the uncertain things that are happening in the world.

In the first part of the story the boy is growing up, and at each stage in his development he uses an example of how there was always enough space. On another level this reflects what many parents feel when a child is born, that their house feels small and they wonder how they will make room. But, one does accommodate, adapt and find space and this space is re-negotiated as the child get’s bigger. At the same time a strong and powerful parallel is drawn to nature, where the author says “there is enough space for the stars” and the “birds in the garden.”. For me there is another message here of how taking time to notice and observe nature can both centre and calm us.

   

I love how as the boy grows up the scale of what he notices and sees gets bigger a bit like a child and young person’s expanding view of the world. So we go from space for all his toys to space for all the fish in the sea.

As he grows up he notices people are fighting for small and big spaces. And once  again the wonderful pictures add power and emotion to the words. In a world of uncertainties where so much has changed and is changing this story both acknowledges the existence of things that may make us feel scared or worried, whilst also providing us with the reassurance of the constant presence of nature. There is one thing we can control and that is we can choose to be kind to ourselves and to each other.

   

You can find out more and view a great video by the author on Tiny Owls website

You can purchase the book from me at Readers that Care or order it from a good local bookshop

Flight – Vanessa Harbour

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Sometimes you read a story that you enjoyed so much and which makes you think that you just need to write about it. Last  week that book was Flight by Vanessa Harbour. A thrilling epic journey which is both heartwarming and at times heart-wrenching.

I am a big fan of middle grade fiction with a journey narrative and of accessible historical fiction, and this does both brilliantly. It is a well paced exciting journey, with the strong sense of the threatening presence of  the Nazi’s adding to the risks and excitement and there are lots of horses!

It is a about a Jewish boy called Jakob who when he is orphaned takes shelter in a nearby stables. His guardian takes him on to look after the Lipizzanner stallions.  They are very famous horses owned by the Spanish Riding school of Vienna, who are renowned for their almost dance like dressage performances. When the horses become endangered Jakob and his guardian and a Roma girl called Kizzy set off on an epic journey across the countryside and over the mountains to safety.

I loved this story just as much as ‘Sky Chaser’ by Emma Carroll. Flight by debut author Vanessa Harbour is every bit it’s equal.  Each cut’s across genre, creating modern historical adventures that will appeal to readers of all ages. This book also reminded me of  ‘Running on the Roof of the World’ by Jess Butterworth, where Tash makes an epic journey with two Yaks across the Himalyas. Both stories bring a real strength to the journey narrative in that the main characters have to care for themselves and their animals.

Reading the story I got a real sense of what it might have been like to have lived in a Nazi occupied country in World War Two. The risks are especially high when you are a Jewish boy trying to sneak across country with a large group of highly prized horses! The story opens with Jacob hiding in a hayloft:

“If Jacob sneezed he could die, he passed a sweaty hand over his nose. Every part of him was shaking. He could hear his heart pounding in his ears….”

Early on you learn the power that the Nazi’s have when Jakobs favourite horse is shot. There is more to come, and because of this I would recommend Flight for children aged 9/10 years and older. However, having said that the constant presence of the Nazi’s is effectively integrated into the story in a way that you feel like you are really there At the same time the full impact is ‘softened’ a little for the reader, as is often the case in the very best of middle grade fiction.

The first two thirds of this story is fast paced with plenty of action to keep you reading as you want to find out what happens next. Then the excitement of the journey appears to be over and you are briefly left wondering what will happen in the rest of the story. Less experienced readers and/or children who prefer fast paced stories may need a little encouragement to get past this. The last one third of the story doesn’t disappoint. It is very clever. You get a hint of what life might be like for Jakob and Kizzy after their adventure and for horse fans there is an absolute treat to come!

Set within an exciting adventure with horses, is a running theme of prejudice, which is superbly handled by the author and leaves plenty to discuss. This includes: attitudes towards Jews in World War Two, and towards Roma children both then and now, and attitudes to women in sport at this time.

I really enjoyed reading this book and can’t wait to see what Vanessa Harbour writes next.